Practical
On 29 April 2025 the Court of Justice of the EU delivered its judgment in the Commission v. Malta case on golden passports. In its ruling the Court held that Union citizenship is one of the principal concrete expressions of the solidarity which forms the very basis of the process of EU integration, with the result that a Member State cannot simply ‘commodify’ its nationality. Otherwise that Member State would also commodify EU citizenship, which is incompatible with the common values of the EU in Article 2 TEU on which also EU citizenship is based.
The Court’s reasoning, appealing to the EU’s values, remained rather abstract and has attracted fierce criticism from several academics. The full repercussions and the ramifications of the ruling are still unclear. One open question in this regard is whether the Court’s emphasis on the importance of solidarity in the ruling will have any consequences for the free movement of economically active and non-active citizens. This BruCeL seminar will focus, although not exclusively, on this question. In an interactive talk, professors Melin and Van Eijken will reflect on this question and identify potential implications.
Practical information:
The seminar will take place online on 18 September 2025 from 15h00 to 17h00 (Brussels Time).
Please register via this form before 11 September 2025 if you wish to participate.
The MS teams link to the seminar will be sent to you a few days before the seminar.
Programme:
Moderator: prof. dr. Merijn Chamon
Case law discussion by prof. dr. Pauline Melin (University of Maastricht) and prof. dr. Hanneke Van Eijken (University of Utrecht)
Questions and answers
Concluding remarks by prof dr. Eleni De Becker